Graham Packaging is proud to announce that it is a Dow Packaging Innovation Silver Award winner. Graham was chosen for the label-less redesign of its European customer Danone’s iconic Danacol bottle.

As part of the redesign, Graham and Danone eliminated the bottle’s PET plastic label, instead replacing it with an embossment on the bottle itself. This not only improves its recyclability, but also reduces the overall amount of plastic used, creating an annual saving of 130,000 kilos (286,600 pounds) of plastic annually.

In addition to its sustainability benefits, the redesigned bottle also features a unique color and opacity to prevent light from affecting the product inside, preserving quality. Danone also designed a color code coordinated lid that helps to differentiate the different flavors of the yogurt.

“At Graham Packaging, innovation drives us in every facet, and the creativity and advancement of this design not only increases sustainability benefits, but also allows it to stand out on the shelf,” said Tracee Auld, Graham Packaging’s Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer. “We are very pleased to be named a Packaging Innovation Silver Award winner.”

Recognizing the best in packaging design, the Packaging Innovation Awards is the packaging industry’s premier awards competition. For over 30 years, companies have entered for the opportunity to have their most innovative designs judged on the world’s stage. The Silver Award recognizes packaging that demonstrates excellence in at least one category—technological advancement, sustainable and responsible packaging, or enhanced user experience.

Our Creative Service and Development Teams have collaborated with our customers over the years to help shape the industry through an array of unique plastic packaging. We have a long-standing history of providing custom eye-catching solutions for our clients that stand the test of time. From the forefront of companies choosing to convert to plastic, Graham Packaging has provided innovative, value-added containers that solve industry and consumer pain points. Imagine a service with an expertise in package design that you can trust to tailor fit to your needs for your next development project.

When you partner with Graham Packaging Company you will be getting a world class resource that will be sure to deliver on your next packaging needs! The Design team has a wide range of skills, creativity and experience, with an extensive knowledge of the industry. We like to dive into three-dimensional ideation early in our process to give real-time design development and allow the stakeholders to provide instant feedback. We understand the importance of launch goals and we know how to balance the project deliverables without compromising on the brand identity. We continue to collaborate and work side-by-side with the core teams throughout the project to develop the best results. By using our tried and true process we have taken plenty of partners on this incredible design journey.

Our approach is simple, we start off with a wide range of concepts that meet the scope of the project and provide distinct choices that our customers can test with their consumers. Our team has a strong sensibility to transform our customer’s brand vision into reality. We know how to edit when necessary and pay attention to details that matter for the steadfast project execution. We appreciate all the aspects that go into making a successful package throughout the supply chain, so we provide our customers with real world options right out of the gate. Once the design direction is chosen we can then take these ideas directly into our simulation software to validate and further refine the form and function.

In the new normal we have taken steps to evolve our process and stay ahead of the curve by using the latest technologies to help with our project workflow. We can work conventionally or fully remote with digital white boarding and augmented reality presentations to give a similar in-person experience and beyond.

Our team is also driven to aligning our design ideas around your sustainability goals and the commitments to the circular economy. Not to mention, the team has a candid ability to stay focused on our client’s criteria and relentless pursuit to redefine the possible within sometimes narrow design windows. We have a proven track record of success and will be there for you to innovate the future!

This past year has changed how we work and what it means to stay connected. We are living in a new reality when it comes to how we maintain meaningful and productive connections with our customers and colleagues.  Our creative services group has always prioritized partnering with our customers, working closely to develop creative sustainable solutions for structural packaging.

Because of the critical necessity for most of us to transition to a work-from home only scenario, we have had to adapt how we work.  At the same time, we need to continue to provide excellent design services to our customers. To make this transition nearly seamless, we have been leaning deeper into some traditional means of communicating and finding new possibilities in how we work.

At Graham, our creative services group is utilizing these key areas:

Communication Tools.

Living in the digital era that we are, there have been many advancements in technologies that make the transition easier. Many of the existing tools for connecting are still an effective way of communicating: email, direct messaging, phone and videoconferencing.

However, now this happens with even greater frequency.

Besides constant one-on-one communications, our team also holds multiple weekly group video conversations to make sure we are all aligned to the current project workloads and to keep all of our customer projects progressing smoothly.  Frequent check-ins with customers is another way to make sure projects stay on track and are meeting the needs of all involved.

Digital Whiteboards.

No longer can our team just walk to another colleague and ask their opinions on various design concepts or pin them to a wall for a quick group critique.  No longer can you have that whiteboard filled with post-it notes while trying to innovate a new sustainable solution.

We have had to pivot and develop a new way for us to effectively continue these fluid conversations.  For us, this has come in the form of digital whiteboards.  Digital whiteboards allow for the same style of instant feedback we get when we are working side-by-side with each other.  We are able to craft new possibilities in packaging all while having effective and efficient brainstorming sessions, capture thoughts and ideas, and refine solutions.

This way of working has also transitioned to how we now work with our customers.

Live Virtual Sessions.

We now utilize virtual design sessions both within the organization and with our customers.  This has created an almost seamless transition from our successful in-person “Live Design Sessions” to doing so virtually. In many ways, this has also enhanced the entire design experience. Customers can now see the full progress of a project, make real-time comments on ideas, and review the development of a project at any time – all on one digital board from anywhere in the world.  We have the ability to show changes to concepts while we are all connected together in a live virtual session. The benefits we created by having all stakeholders and decision-makers together in one room continues – just virtually.

As we have made these transitions, we also need to remember that we are all going through this time together and we are all learning how to work more effectively remotely.  Sometimes things will not go as smoothly as we would like them to, and sometimes the digital platforms will not function as we hope they would.  However, the best thing we can do during this time is a have a willingness to experiment, to continue learning, and have patience and perseverance as we work to succeed together.

Why do we concern ourselves with making things look unique on shelf at the point of sale?  Wouldn’t it just be simpler to make a new bottle design which is the easiest and most functional to manufacture for our blow-molding machines?  Why do we need to make a bottle which is different than someone else’s bottle shape?  Why is the package design so important to you and to our customers?

Well, did you ever think about how lucky we are in that we are able to have so many choices for everything that we purchase?  It doesn’t matter what category of product you are looking at, whether you’re shopping online or in-person at the store.  The choices are endless and sometimes it can be very confusing because there are so many options to choose from within every product offering.

In a typical grocery store, there might be dozens of varieties in one category for a particular item you were needing to purchase.  It can be downright confusing and time consuming to look at every label of every product on the shelf.  What makes you pick up something and read the label?  Is it the color or the shape?  Maybe it’s the brand you always purchased in the past?  Could it be the lower cost of the product which drives your impulse to put that package in your cart?  The reasons may be endless, but one thing is for sure – there is a lot of visual clutter on the shelf when we go shopping.  Sometimes it may even seem to appear as a blur because there is a lot to decipher when choosing products on shelf.

Did you know that the average western consumer is exposed to something like 3,000 brand images in a single day?  That may be hard to believe, but just think about how many advertisements we see just by driving down the road.  What about the commercials we are exposed to when we watch television.  How about all of those emails we get in our inboxes from companies wanting us to buy their products.  Packaging is no different in that it has its own mini billboard of sorts advertising what’s inside its package hoping that we pick it pick it up to investigate.  That’s half the battle already with packaging design, in that if one picks up the package out of curiosity, it’s one step closer to going into our grocery basket.

If you’re like most people, the majority of the items you place in your cart end up being impulse purchases. We are attracted to things which stand out on the shelf, things which trigger our curiosity.  It could be something that attracted you, like that new sparkly label or unique ergonomics for pour-ability.  Maybe it was the bright color of the bottle, or the larger font size on the label.  Packaging design is an art form in itself in how creativity is used in the development of new shapes for consumers to help with brand differentiation and the point of sale.

At Graham, we know how to manufacture blow-molded rigid plastic packaging.  We should because we’ve been doing it now for over 50 years utilizing technology that we invented ourselves.  In addition, we know custom packaging and what it means to create a new and unique package for our customers.  As bottle developers, we are familiar with bringing clarity amongst the clutter at the point of purchase when it comes to creating unique patentable designs for our customers.

Success with custom bottle design is first achieved by understanding the history of shape and form throughout history.  We look to antiquities as well as modern craft to help us invent shapes for the future.  We combine elements from the past and combine them with new ideas in the present to create unique shapes for our customers to own which helps to represent their brands.  We create custom bottles which never existed before to help our customers be successful.  Our unique bottle designs stand out on shelf because we know how to craft new and custom bottle shapes with artistic flair combined with manufacturing know-how.  Custom packaging design is in our DNA and throughout our history it has proven to be a very valuable asset for our customer’s success and differentiates Graham from our competition.  In the end, the value of a custom packaging design is priceless.